Cutting Through the Fog: Why is it so Hard To Make Sense of Poverty Measures?

John Stapleton and Richard Shillington

2011

Cutting Through the Fog: Why is it so hard to make sense of poverty measures? is about the challenges facing citizens when presented with statistics on poverty. It emphasizes the need to question the implications and assumptions underlying various poverty measures. The authors look at how we measure poverty levels, the working poor, child benefits, unemployment, and Employment Insurance. They provide some basic information about what measures are used and illustrate how different approaches to the data can colour social realities. As Stapleton and Shillington write, “… if we don’t make sense of poverty measures, we will limit our ability as a society to make good decisions about poverty and related issues.”